Thoughts of the Week: July 26 – August 2

I am fortunate to be in Scottsdale, AZ this week as I celebrate with a group of friends – like I do every year at a different location. During this week of relaxation, I was able to come up with a few ideas on a few things that are happening in our world right now.

You may agree, or disagree, but that’s good. I love debate. I love different opinions. And I love that you take the time to opine on my comments – it means a lot.

Here are a few thoughts for this week — sorry there are not as many as usual, as my thoughts are on breaking 90 on the golf course!

Clemson Jealousy?

When Tampa, Fla. running back/wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud announced that he was committing to Clemson the flood gates opened up and immediately everyone was claiming that Clemson was “cheating”, that they had a “money truck”, and named just about every other ridiculous scenario regarding why McCloud would commit to Clemson.

Now, if I didn’t know any better, I would guess that this group of fans is jealous of Clemson and their ability to recruit the Florida area – particularly the Tampa Bay area.

Over the past few years, Clemson has secured commitments from C.J. Spiller, Artavis Scott, Sammy Watkins, Ray-Ray McCloud, Deon Cain and others. Quite a haul from the state of Florida, but lets be clear – it has nothing to do with Clemson cheating, as much as it has to do with the fact that Clemson is pretty damn good at recruiting.

Over the past six years, Clemson has ranked, according to Rivals.com, 2nd (2010), 8th (2011), 14th (2012), 14th (2013), 13th (2014), and is currently ranked 2nd in their rankings. All in all, for a team in lowly South Carolina that is pretty daggone good.

Their poaching of talent is not just in Florida, you can look at Deshaun Watson from Georgia, Dorian O’Daniel from Maryland, Tahj Boyd from Virginia, Zac Brooks from Arkansas, D.J. Howard from Alabama, and so on, as examples of Clemson really going into the backyards of major programs and getting talent.

Sure it seems like Florida gets hurt the most, but the talent in Florida is far superior to nearly every state in the United States, so, of course, they are going to go into the talent honeypot and try to steal some talent.

Further, recently you have seen a lot of offensive players spurning Florida for Clemson for one main reason – their offensive production. Since 2012, Clemson has ranked 9th in total offense, whereas Florida has ranked 109th. If you are an offensive playmaker it is a no-brainer, until Florida can prove it can put an offense on the field.

Moreover, if you are a wide receiver, look at Jacoby Ford, Martavis Bryant, DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, and Jaron Brown. Now compare that to the wide receivers Florida has put into the NFL recently? ::crickets::

All in all, stop accusing Clemson of cheating. They are not doing anything different than every other school in the country. Plus it is not all bad, Florida beat Clemson for DeMarcus Robinson and Jonathan Bullard – two potential All-SEC players.

Tone down the rhetoric and give them props for their ability to go into the backyard of Florida, Florida State and Miami and take talent – even though the outcome was not in the Gators’ favor.

Gogo a No-no

On Tuesday, I traveled to Scottsdale, AZ for vacation. On my flight I wanted to hop on to the internet to get some work done and otherwise pass some time. When I launched my web browser “Gogo Internet” popped-up – perfect. I have used “Gogo” many times as I used to travel nearly 40 weeks a year.

To my astonishment, I noticed that Gogo raised their prices drastically. Did you know that it now costs $7.50 for 30 minutes of internet, $15.00 for 90 minutes, and $30.00 for an all-day pass.

You kidding? When you have a monopoly on services, I understand you determine your own prices, but that is absurd price and a drastic increase from just a few years ago – at least a 50% increase.

How Many Chances for Jameis?

Jameis Winston again finds himself at the forefront of another scandal – this time, reports uncover, he was arrested in 2012 for shooting a BB gun that caused damage to an apartment complex.

Obviously, FSU knew about the situation, as did the coaching staff. No outward punishment was ever given.

When Jameis allegedly raped a student – no outward punishment was given.

When Jameis stole crab legs, blatantly, a very small minor punishment was given, but not anything worth writing home about.

Winston caused $4,200 worth of damage, but they never pressed charges? Why? Because of who he is?

I am tired of Winston being given a free pass. I am tired of everyone telling us that these are small, isolated incidents. And I am tired of hearing that this is just a journalist looking for a story.

Dan Thompson is a 2010 graduate of the University Florida, graduating with a degree in Economics and a degree in Political Science. During this time at UF, Dan worked three years for the Florida Gator Football team as a recruiting ambassador. Dan dealt daily with prospects, NCAA guidelines, and coaching staff. Dan was also involved in Florida Blue Key, Student Government and Greek Life. Currently, Dan oversees the IT consulting practice of a Tampa-based company. Dan enjoys golfing, country music, bourbon, travel, oysters, and a medium-rare steak. Dan can be found on Twitter at @DK_Thompson.

4 COMMENTS

Regarding the Clemson comments about cheating. I agree w/ you 100%. It’s the same vile that was expressed towards Ole Miss a few years ago when Freeze had that great class.The fact is not every kid wants to play at UF. Saying they are “cheating” or have a “money truck” is ridiculous and sour grapes. Freeze asked ANYONE w/ info about Ole Miss cheating to come forward….and so far? Crickets!

It’s nice to have an opinion, Daniel. but you need to get your facts straight to be able to have an intelligent one. Winston was not arrested for shooting a BB gun. The only thing he has done wrong is steal crab-legs, for which he was appropriately punished for someone who has a clean record. He was treated the same as anyone else. You also imply that he should have been punished for being accused of sexual assault. Again, he was not arrested or charged, so there is no valid reason that he should be punished for doing nothing wrong. I would hope that you would also be as objective regarding Winston as you are regarding Clemson’s recruiting . The fact is that the only thing that Winston has done is steal crab legs. I could accuse you of being a child molester, if you were not even charged with being one, how would you like to be called a child molester when there is no evidence that you were one? How would you like to be reported on with this byline, Daniel Thompson, accused child molester?
In closing, you should first of all get your facts straight, and second of all, give Winston the same dignity you give to the Clemson football program. After all, the people that accuse Clemson of cheating and the folks that bring up rape when Winston is mentioned are both guilty of not having any evidence to make their claim credible.

Snowprint you need to pull your head out of your posterior if you don’t think special treatment was given to Winston in that deal. If it would have been you or me that the woman identified after recognizing him in a class we would have been down at the county lock-up that same day waiting to get bailed out. Charges would have been filed….perhaps ultimately they would have been dropped based on the evidence that presented itself in the case, but that is a whole different ball of wax.

Instead TPD didn’t even seek to “interview” Winston after he was identified. Instead they tipped off the FSU athletic dept. and allowed him to “lawya up.”

I think what the writer is so completely disgusted at is over the extreme differential in treatment during the course of this investigation for Wistopn vs. what any average Joe walking the street would have rec’d. I know I am.

The housing manager wanted to evict Winston for damaging 13 windows. Moreover, Winston admitted to taking part in a bb gun battle. The fact that he was ultimately not arrested is irrelevant to his actual criminal conduct. In fact the point of that section of the article is the lack of enforcement that is blatantly characteristic of Tallahassee’s treatment of a phenomenal athlete.

You have to feel that at some point Winston will experience the equivalent of “survivor syndrome” where he will have to come to grips with the disparate selective law enforcement towards him which has benefitted him while over 2 million other Americans are locked up in prisons – none of which have won Heismans or national championships.

Since 1997 Gator Country's been the most trusted authority on all Florida Gators sports. Join the most active Gators forums and get the real inside scoop on Florida football, recruiting, basketball, baseball and all University of Florida athletics!